Practical Information for Your Study Term
in London
The first place you might want to look is in the AHA Handbook for Studying Abroad, a copy of which should have been sent out to you with your information packet. This will provide you with a very readable, comprehensive, and complete overview of most everything you will want to know before you leave home. You might want to pay particular attention to the chapters on preparation, managing your money, and staying healthy, all of which will help you to have a great experience!
Most of you will want to do some traveling outside of London while you are abroad. The handbook lists an AHA International Travel Desk website that is currently not in operation. Instead, I suggest you log onto the website for Sta Travel which provides a host of resources to draw on. However, you will need other websites for travel within Europe--I would suggest either Europebyair, Cheapflights, airfares.co.uk. For an even more extensive site, try Discount Airfares. In addition, here are some specific low cost airline sites: easyJet, Ryanair, and Euroair.
Probably the easiest way to travel within the UK is by train.
RailEurope maintains an excellent site that will help you with rail travel throughout Europe, but a good place for schedules in England and the U.K. is at UK Railways on the Net. Especially for those of you who have little or no European travel experience a very helpful place to start is with Rick Steves' Britain webpage. His Great Britain Plan, although designed for a 22 day trip, provides a useful list of many of the places you might like to visit while living in London. He also has a very instructive page on European Railpasses which you should read before leaving home because to reap the reduced fares that many railpasses provide requires you to purchase them while in the U.S. Rick Steves' has an even more comprehensive site full of Travel Tips.
Since you will be in London from early fall almost into winter you will also want to anticipate a wide variation in the weather. London's climate is a bit like Portland or Seattle, usually mild, often rainy, and a bit on the cool side. Here is a source of information on the climate, and you may also want to check the current weather.
You will want to pay attention to these variations in your packing. A previous instructor in the London program (Alan Gallay of Western Washington University) has suggested the following: "Bring a backpack or overnight bag for your short excursions. I also suggest traveling relatively light. I would pack fewer pants, blouses, or shirts than you'd normally wear in a three-month period at home, but plenty of undergarments and socks, which will reduce how often you need to do a wash. London will be cool, but probably not cold--think of outer garments that can be layered: warm shirts and both a thin and a thick sweater. A jacket that you can fit a sweater under is useful. Leave space in your luggage for items you might purchase in England." (Or conversely, think of purchasing a few of your clothes and perhaps an additional bag after you arrive.)
Alan also stresses the importance of paying attention to and maintaining your health. There is nothing worse than being sick while traveling. There is a lot to see and do and you will be tempted to see and do it all, so it is important to operate at a steady and even pace. From the minute you step on the plane you will be exposed to lots of different people in new environments and so be prone to colds, coughs, and maybe even the flu. In these circumstances adequate rest and a thoughtful diet will pay off.
One of the great highlights of London is theatre. London's West End is the British equivalent of Broadway, but there are a large number of theatres distributed throughout London and England itself. Here is a complete London Theatre Guide. Remember that some of these performances will be included as part of your London program.
If you want to know more about "what's happing" a good place to check is with London's Time Out. For more traditional guides you may want to check on Lonely Planet's Destination London or the World Executive London Guide.
For those of you who are planning to take either of the two classes I am teaching (England and Great Social Transformations: Precursors of the Present and Studies in Charismatic Leadership--Winston Churchill and Adolf Hitler) you might want to take a look at some more on-line information available through the links below.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
I am almost always available at tothm@pdx.edu.
